TÜRKÇE
Ruler statue
Fragments of a white limestone statue, presumably belonging to a ruler, were found in the north right wing of the south gate of the Inner Town during the 1911–1914 excavations by L. Woolley. The statue was probably a seated figure in its original condition. The head and shoulder section was found as a single piece, although its face was badly demolished. This piece was left in the excavation area, and when it was found again during the renewed excavation, its head was completely destroyed. Fragments of a few lines of Luwian inscriptions that used to be on the skirts of the statue and around its rectangular pedestal were also found by Woolley, but only a couple of these fragments are in the Ankara Museum today. In the more damaged upper lines, the genealogy of an unreadable ruler is mentioned, and the inscription ends with a curse against those who cause damage to the monument. Before it was broken, the headpiece was approximately 0.8 m high and the rectangular base was 1 m x 1.25 m. It is estimated that the initial destruction of the statue occurred during the Assyrian invasion of the city. It is dated to the time of Kamani, i.e., the 8th century BCE.
